Christ Alone

“For the Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

Have you ever been called a fool because you’re a Christian? Maybe they used a different word. Immature? Naïve? Uneducated? Maybe someone even straight up called you stupid, or something worse. Maybe not. Maybe you haven’t been identified yet as a Christian. Maybe you’re blessed, and even though it’s well-known you’re a Christian, you’re still respected by your peers and your professors.

But I bet you know what I’m talking about. I bet that if nothing else, you’ve at least heard of people who took a public stand, and got shamed for it. It’s easy for us to see things like that, and to become silent. It’s easy in most classrooms to just be quiet, keep your down, and try to pass the class so that you don’t have to take it again. And that’s not necessarily a bad plan. Sometimes that’s the best you can do, and that’s okay. Maybe you disagree. Maybe you view every time the professor asks a question as an opportunity to share the Gospel. Sharing the Gospel is certainly a good thing to do. And hey you never know, it might even work right?

Unfortunately, there’s a problem. They can’t get it. They cannot understand the Gospel. “The Word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing.” You could literally sit them down in room and spend all day explaining how justification by faith works, and they still wouldn’t get it. They would still think that you’re foolish, and there is absolutely nothing that you can do to change their minds.

This is incredibly frustrating. Why can’t they just see? Why can’t they just get it? It’s right in front of their faces! ”But to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” I wish I could tell you what to say or do that would make them change. But I can’t. And here’s why, it’s all about Christ.

You see, we all want to be Christ. We all want to be the ones who save not only ourselves, but those around us as well. We want to be the heroes. We want to be the saviors. We want to do something. But we can’t. We can’t do anything to save those closest to us, no matter how much we try. We really really, want to, but we really, really can’t.

Of course in some ways this is our sinful nature coming to the fore, and trying to get us to rely on our works instead of Jesus. But your sin is just corrupting what is a very good desire. You want other people to be saved. Your sin just tries to convince you that you can do that.

Christ alone, is one of the hardest Solas to accept. Because the truth is, that when we say Christ alone, we mean it. It’s all Christ. He alone did what had to be done. He alone could do what had to be done. He is the God-Man. The only person in the whole of the universe who could do what had to be done in order to save us. Christ alone could bear all of our sins on his shoulders. Christ alone could allow himself to be nailed to the cross in order to pay for those sins. Christ. Alone.

The question that you have to ask yourself is this: Do you trust Christ alone? Do you trust the Man who died for your sins and sent the Spirit to save you and enlighten you? If you don’t, then wrestle with this truth. If you do, then I suggest you also trust Him with your friends and with your family. Christ died for them just as much as He died for you or for me. You might be granted the privilege of being the one who Christ uses to speak His word to them. Or you might not.

When you’re stressing over things like this, feel free to think of this verse, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (John 3:17) Christ is pursuing each and every person on the planet, working to save them. You can trust Him to do everything in His power to do so. Christ alone saved you, and He will work just as hard to save everyone else you ever meet.